Advanced Web Design: AD650

TECHNICAL SUPPORT | Proper File naming For The Web

Web browsers are very particular about spelling and syntax! All of your HTML pages should have the suffix: .html or .htm

HTML file names are case sensitive and must match to be readable. For instance, if your page is called mypage.html, you must refer to it in other html documents as mypage.html and NOT my-page.html.

As a general rule use lowercase.

Avoid using long file names. Files names should be 8 letters or less before the suffix. You cannot use signs, symbols (other than underscores or dashes) or spaces, because servers will read signs or symbols as commands and your files will not be displayed. Letters, numbers, dashes and underscores are ok. Try to use simple (short), one-word names without symbols or punctuation for all of your files and folder names.

There should be NONE of the following in your file names:
$ % & # @ * ! ?+><,

The following are examples of the different file names and suffixes understood by a browser.

Decide on a naming convention before you start your web site and stick with it to avoid confusion. The folders you create to organize your files should also follow the above rules and naming conventions.

Sample naming conventions:

Navigation buttons use:

Page Titles use:

HTML pages use: